Whitmer, St. Francis track relays set for Friday

Two of the area’s top track meets will be held Friday when the 37th annual Nancy Erme Relays at Whitmer and the 15th annual Knight Relays at St. Francis de Sales take place.

The Nancy Erme Relays, which is divided into two groupings of teams, will begin with field events at 4 p.m. and running events beginning at 4:30.

Central Catholic, Findlay, Northview, Southview, and Whitmer are scheduled to compete in the Gold Division, which was won last year by Notre Dame with the host Panthers finishing second.

Bowsher, Clay, St. Ursula, Start, and Toledo Christian are in the Blue Division, which Clay won last spring.

“It’s one of the the largest and oldest all-girls meets in all of Ohio,” said Whitmer first-year coach Lucas Hoel, who spent five years as a Panthers assistant. “It should good competition.”

Whitmer junior Kaitlyn Barber has shown plenty of versatility this spring. She’s cleared 10 feet, 9 inches in the pole vault and has run well in the 200 meters (27.0) and 400 (59.0). Hoel said the relays give athletes an opportunity to increase their focus on particular events.

“We’re a deep team so we benefit from meets like this,” he said. “It’s a beginning of our transition out of relays to individual events. It's a good meet to gauge where we’re at.”

Bedford, Bowsher, Cardinal Stritch, Central Catholic, Clay, Findlay, Northview, Maumee, St. John's, Southview, Scott, Springfield, Start, Toledo Christian, and Whitmer are expected to compete Friday in the Knight Relays, which was won by Whitmer last year with St. Francis finishing as runner-up.

St. Francis senior Kyle Lach, who will compete in track and cross country at the University of Dayton, leads a strong Knights team. He won the 1600 meters at last year’s meet with a time of 4 minutes, 22.33 seconds.

The Knight Relays start with field events at 4:30 p.m. Running event finals are scheduled to begin with a shuttle hurdle relay at 6:30.

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